! Walk up and
down like this, till I see," and she did her best to imitate a
martial stride. "Courage, cherie! you are pale as a ghost. Courage!
and remember every heart true to France will pray for you, whether
you win or lose. You are carrying the fate of the colony in your
hands to-night. Let me kiss you, cherie. Again. Bah! I'm only crying
because I can't go in your stead. Come, I will let you out."

When the side door of the convent shut behind me and I found myself
alone in the darkness of the narrow street, my courage wellnigh
failed me, and with shame in my heart I realised I was trembling
so I could hardly put one foot in front of the other. But the rain
dashed into my face by the high wind revived me, and with an effort
I went on. As I made my way down past the Jesuits my courage
gradually returned, and resolutely thinking of my mission alone,
I banished my fears to such extent that I was enabled to grasp my
sword firmly, and step forward with some show of assurance.

As I turned into rue St. Jean a drunken soldier struck terror into
me again by shouting out a convivial salutation in Gaelic, but his
more sober comrades silenced him with low curses at his imprudence,
and I went on, unmolested.

There were not so many in the streets as I had expected, and with
this one exception no one noticed me; but as I drew near to the
St. John's Gate I made out a crowd of men busily engaged in
barricading it, and for a moment I stood still in bewildered
helplessness. I had so resolved on leaving the town by this means
that when I found it closed against me it seemed as if my whole
plan had failed. With my heart beating so I could hardly see to
direct my steps, I turned back along the way I had come, and it
was not until I drew near the Palace Hill I remembered there were
other exits. Gaining fresh courage, I turned down and made my way
to the Palace Gate, when, for the first time, it struck me that a
password must be given, and of it I was ignorant. I did not even
know the forms necessary to pass the men, and if an officer were
present I must be discovered at once; but it was now too late to
draw back, as I was in full view of the guard.

It was a strange time to remember such things, but the first line
of poor Lucy's hymn kept ringing in my head, and I advanced, saying
over and over to myself, like a charm:

"Thou very present Aid
In suffering and distress."

When I was almost face to face with the guard I m